Detoxifying Green Mung Bean Soup

Just a quick post from me this evening after a rather busy weekend!

Here is a nutritious soup recipe from our cookbook of the month - Eat Right for your Body Type by Anjum Anand. This soup is widely recommended by Ayurvedic practitioners as it is said to be revitalising and revitalising for the body. The green mung bean's outer green skin is rich in minerals and has a cleansing action on the digestive tract. It is commonly used as a source of sustainance during Ayurvedic fasts.

Seeing as I'm expecting, fasting is definitely off the cards for me. I like it on its own for a light lunch now and then, or for dinner I sometimes make this a little thicker by reducing the amount of water and then I serve it with steamed rice and vegetables.

The following is an adapted recipe from the book and suits all doshas. Speaking of which - did you take the quiz I linked to at the end of my previous post on the book? How did you find it?


The basic soup (suits all doshas)

200g green mung beans, washed in several changes of water
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
750ml water
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
rock salt, to taste
fresh coriander, chopped
lemon juice, to taste

Basic tarka (flavoured oil)
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander


Method

1. Wash the mung beans thoroughly and then soak them either overnight or for at least 4 hours before cooking. Bring the lentils, fresh water and ground turmeric to a gentle simmer and cook until soft - around 30-40 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

2. Once the beans are cooked, heat the ghee in your smallest pan/saucepan, add the asafoetida ad allow to sizzle for 5 seconds. Add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds until the seeds have darkened and become aromatic. Add the remaining spices, let them sizzle for 20 seconds then tip into your soup and stir through. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, add salt and lemon juice to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

Till next time!

Ladybird x

Cookbook of the Month - June 2011

It is with much delight that I announce the Cookbook of the Month for June. It has been a little while since I've done this feature, so I've put quite a bit of thought into choosing something interesting for you, my precious readers!

This month's book comes from British-Indian celebrity chef and author Anjum Anand. You may remember I have featured some of her recipes on Diary of a Ladybird previously, such as my post on Carrot Kheer. At any rate, this month's book focuses on creating delicious food for optimum health by following ayurvedic diet principles.

Introducing Eat Right for your Body Type by Anjum Anand:

I have personally had a great experience with this book, and feel I must share with you that it was whilst follwing the guidelines in this book that I became pregnant with our little one currently on the way... Coincidence perhaps, or perhaps my body was in optimum health! I am no longer following the guidelines as strictly, but am definitely mindful of them in my everyday eating. So you never know - even if you have never heard of ayurveda before, I would urge you to keep an eye on this month's feature... I'll be sharing some great recipes from the book,some of which are Indian in influence, others more 'western'. I do hope you enjoy them :)

So what is ayurveda?
As described on Anjum's website:
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian science and is thought to have formed the backbone of many of the Eastern holistic medicines. It had a unique way of looking at the body and understood completely the relationship between food and the body. According to Ayurveda, what you eat can affect how you look, how you feel, who you are and most importantly, your health!

What are the 'Doshas'?
Everything in the universe is made up of the same 5 elements; air, ether, water, earth and fire. We have all 5 elements in our bodies but generally not in the same proportions, there will be more of one or two of them. These excess elements give us our own individual (elemental) imbalance (our personal DNA). In Ayurveda, these imbalances are grouped into three and are known as doshas. The three doshas are vata (an excess of ether and air), pitta (an excess of fire) and kapha (an excess of earth and water). Most of us a combination of two doshas but generally even here, one will dominate. Our dosha (imbalance) will determine who we are, how we look, how we think, our temperament and our tendencies.

Which dosha am I?
I thought you might be curious like I was! Click here to download a quick and easy questionnaire. Once you complete it you will not only be aware of your dosha, but you will also be able to see how the recipes I'm featuring will be of benefit to you, and how you can alter them to better suit your dosha.

To read more about your dosha, go to the bottom of this page on Anjum's website and click on the relevant dosha: http://www.anjumanand.co.uk/ayurveda/

More on this feature in the coming days :)

Ladybird x

PS - Did you know that you can now subscribe to Diary of a Ladybird by email? To receive new posts straight to your inbox, please submit your email address in the widget on the right hand side of the page.

Carrot Kheer

"Carrots and milk? Anna, that sounds gross..." Mr Ladybird warned - and so I threw down the gauntlet (in this case, an oven mitt)  and declared, "Game on!" Mr Ladybird is always rather frank is his opinions on food... so I do enjoy the challenge at times. At other times it can be a bit, well, pesky! But I could understand Mr Ladybird's hesitation. He has become somewhat of a kheer snob. There, I said it! Since I started making chaval kheer (a creamy indian rice pudding), he shuns others' versions (which is really rather sweet in a stubborn kind of way).

This recipe comes from British-Indian chef and author, Anjum Anand. I have had mixed success with her recipes in the past, but I was convinced the flavour combination would work a bit like carrot cake - sounds odd yet, somehow, it works.

Carrot Kheer
1L full cream milk
250g carrots, grated
1/2 tsp green cardamom seeds, finely ground
pinch saffron
3 - 4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped pistachios to garnish
2 tbsp flaked almonds (optional)

1. Heat the milk in a wide, heavy-based saucepan, stirring and scraping the base with the spoon frequently to make sure the milk does not catch and burn. Keep cooking until it reduces by about one third - this takes about 25 minutes.
2. Add the carrots and continue cooking for another 15-25 minutes or until they are soft and the milk is as thick as you like it. (I like it at a just drinkable consistency) It will also thicken up slightly once chilled.
3. Stir in the sugar, saffron and cardamom powder, cook for another 2 minutes and taste for sweetness. Bear in mind chilling dulls the sweetness of food, so add a little more than you think you will need.
4. Cool and then place in the fridge for several hours, covered with clingfilm as milk absorbs flavours from other food in the fridge. Overnight is best to allow the flavours to infuse. When ready to eat, serve in bowls sprinkled with the nuts.

The result? Delicious, slightly carroty and beautifully scented kheer without the starchiness of its rice equivalent.

Oh.. and you'll never guess who came back for seconds ;)


Ladybird x